Newsstand: October 30, 2013

Don't go to work—it's a bad idea. In the news: a disciplinary tribunal was held yesterday for the first of 32 police officers to face a G20 misconduct hearing, Mayor Rob Fords thinks scrapping City recreation fees is bunk, five Toronto hospitals are the recipients of a $50-million donation, and a man has been hit by a TTC bus.

At a disciplinary tribunal held yesterday to assess the conduct of Constable Ryan Simpson, the first of 32 police officers to face a misconduct hearing related to incidents during the G20, Simpson’s lawyer argued that the cyclist Simpson detained for 19 minutes that day “had only himself to blame.” Cyclist Nicholas Wright was stopped, handcuffed, searched, and placed in the back of a police cruiser by Simpson that day—the latter maintains he did so because Wright was cycling too fast between lanes of traffic. I mean, who hasn’t been handcuffed, frisked, and thrown into the back of a police cruiser for biking too quickly?

Mayor Rob Ford is back to busting the balls of those leftie spendthrifts looking to suck the goddamned taxpayers dry with their endless demands for public services. Or, y’know, maybe he sees it that way? Basically, the development and recreation committee put forth a recommendation that the City’s recreation fees be scrapped entirely, and Rob Ford thinks it’s crap. Yesterday, he both accused left-wing councillors who support the proposal of simply trying to win votes and asserted that Toronto recreation fees are the “lowest fees around.” Which just plain isn’t true, but it’s got sort of a nice ring to it, no?

Five Toronto hospitals are the beneficiaries of a $50-million donation from the Slaight Family Foundation. Toronto General and Western Hospital, St. Michael’s Hospital, the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and Mount Sinai Hospital will each get $10-million over a 10-year period. The Slaights own multimedia firm Standard Broadcasting.

A man in his 60s is in critical condition after being struck by a TTC bus on Dufferin Street near St. Clair Avenue West early this morning.